Illuminated sign



April 1939. E LOWINGER 2,155,904

ILLUMINATED 5 IGN Filed May 4, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l T fl; Fi 14..

INVENTOR M ATTORNEY A ril 25, 1939. E L WM E 2,155,904

ILLUMINATED S I GN Filed May 4, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7" INVENTOR Eager: lowe'lvger Patented Apr. 25, 1939 UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE 2,155,904 ILLUMINATED SIGN Application May 4, 1938, Serial No. 205,887

4 Claims.

invention relates to new and useful improvements in illuminated signs.

--Mpreg specifically the invention proposes the construction of an illuminated sign which maybe used by theatres or similar houses for announcing the program for a particular day. H

Still further the invention proposes the construction of a plurality of individual sign characters which are constructed insuch a manner that 19 when they are illuminated at night they will produce -a particularly effective sign and which will not have the flat lifeless appearance common to theatre signs when viewed in daylight.

Still further it is proposed to form each of the 1; sign characters from hollow material which is openat its back side and open at its front side for permitting the light to pass therethrough and around .the sides thereof for producing a character havinga double outline.

20 Still further it is proposed to provide each of the sign characters with a novel hanging means whichepermits them to be positioned upon brackets extending across a translucent pane of glass which isadapted to be positioned from the frame and be illuminated from the rear for producing the de'sired effect at night.

Still further it is proposed to form the brackets for supporting the sign character of separate sections releasably connected together so that the signcharacters may be positioned by varying distances from the pane of glass to change the shadow effects produced'by the character and so increase the advertising value thereof.

as For further comprehension of theinvention,

- and=of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the o inventionare more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a partial elevaticnal View of an illuminated sign constructed according to this inven- 45 tion.

" Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an. enlarged detailed view of a portion of 'Fig. 2. Fig 4 is a perspective View of a portion of one of the sign characters showing its specific construction.

"Figs. 5 and 5A are views similar to Fig. 4 illusstratum;

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of a corner embodying the modification shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. '7 is a partial plan view of an illuminated sign constructed according to a still further modification of the invention.- .5-

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of one of the bracket. sections perse.

Fig. 9 is a View similar to.-Fig. 8 illustrating another bracket section.

Fig. 10 is a sectional perspective view of a por- 10' tion of the-sign unitused in connection with the modification-shown in Fig.7 and showing its-specific construction.

Figs. 1116 inclusive are sectional views ofportions of sign charactersconstructedaccording to 15: still further modifications of the invention.

Figs. 17, 18 and19 are fragmentaryside views of the sign frames, illustrating various forms-of openings.

The illuminated sign, according to this invention,- comprises a frame). This frame In is in the form of a box orcanopy similar to conventional canopies whichare hung over the entrancesto theatres or similar houses. The faces of the frame It) are formed with openings MB. A translucent pane of glass I I, such as opal glass, is supported in grooves I3 within the frame and extends across the openings Ill Grooves l3 are formed below the face l2 of; the frame I0. e. translucent pane of'glass H is .adaptedto be i1; luminated from the rear by means of electric. lights II or similar lights mounted within.- the body portion of the frame 10. There may be one or more glass panes of any color, superimposed. or placed adjacent to one another.

Brackets [4 are mounted upon the sides of the frame. Each of these brackets consists of an upwardly and outwardly extended strip of material. M which. is fixedly attached at its bottom end to the bodyof the frame ID on the outer face, l2 of the frame. (SeeFig. 1.) An upwardly and inwardly extending stripof material l4 -is fixedly secured to an intermediate portion of the upwardly and outwardly extending strip-of material M and is securely attached to the body portion of the frame I 0 at a point above the point of connection for the strip [4 and-normally assists in maintaining the strip M in its upwardly ,and' outwardly extended position. '50; Abar I5 is extended betweenthe brackets I4 7 and is spaced from the frontface of the pane of glass l l. This.baris-substantially rectangular in form and has itsv corners rounded. Theouter ends of the bars are securelyattached to the;up Q5;

per ends of the upwardly and outwardly extending portions of the brackets M.

A character l6 having a bayonet slot I'I formed in from the rear edges of the side flanges I6 is adapted to be engaged on the bars with its rear edges spaced from the pane of glass II. The character [6 is constructed from sheet metal, as clearly shown in Fig. 4 and has both its front face and itsrear face open so that the light passing through the translucent pane of glass may pass through the character for producing an unusual effect when illuminated at night.

A bayonet slot [1 is formed in from the rear edge of the flange l6 and adjacent the top and bottom edge portions of the character and consists of a wide mouth portion l'l having a width slightly greater than the height of the bar [5, and in turn continues into a narrow inner portion l'l having a width equal to the width of the bar 15. This construction of the bayonet slot l1 permits the character Hi to be easily positioned on adjacent bars l5 by passing the bar through the wide mouth portion ll until it is aligned with the end of the narrow inner portion I! for hooking the character on the bars to fixedly hold them in position thereon.

The characters iii are shaped to conform with the letters of the alphabet and when positioned upon the bars in a proper sequence they are adapted to spell out the name of the character in the particular show or the name of the main feature. As clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the rear edges of the characters l6 are spaced from the front face of the pane of glass H which produces the shadows upon the pane of glass when the sign is illuminated during the day time by natural daylight, thus increasing the advertising value of the sign by drawing attention to the particular formation of the letters in conjunction with the shadows formed upon the pane of glass. When the sign is illuminated at night the rays of light from the light contained within the frame ID will pass through the translucent pane and pass through the open portions of the characters l6 for producing letters having double outlines.

The operation of this form of the invention is as follows:

For advertising a particular show at a theatre or other place of amusement, a form is made before the characters l6 are positioned upon the frameand the proper characters are positioned on the bars 15 in the proper sequence for spelling out the particular sign. Each of the sign characters [6 is individually positioned upon adjacent bars l5 by passing the bar through the widemouth portion II to align the width of the bar with the narrow inner portion 11 After the bar has been positioned with relation to the narrow inner portion I'l the character I6 is moved downward to permit the top edge of the adjacent bars 15 to abut the top portions of the narrow inner portions l'l According to the modification shown in Figs. 5 and 6 a means is provided for supporting a plurality of grate members l8 along the length of the open front portion of the sign character l6 for decreasing the space through which the light rays may pass and for enhancing the appearance thereof. These grate members l8 may be square as shown in Fig. 5, or they may be circular or triangular in shape and they may be arranged parallel with the edge portions of the front opening, or they may be slanted with relation to these edge portions.

These grate members it? are held in position by means of strips of translucent material l9 preferably of glass and have their ends securely attached to the material of the characters at the sides of the front opening. This securing is accomplished by means of screws 20. Other screws 2! are passed through the translucent material I!) and threadedly engage into the bottom end of the grate members 28 for fixedly holding them in fixed spaced positions with relation to each other and with relation to the edge portions of the front openings. These translucent support members l9 are particularly useful in a sign construction of this type since when the characters are illuminated at night the light will be able to 'pass therethrough and give the appearance as though the grate members were suspended in the air.

These transparent support members may also be used for supporting the free center portions of the letters P and similar letters in the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. In Fig. 5A the grating I8 is made of wavelike strips, but they may be of any other desired design or formation.

In Fig. 6 the method of connecting the grate members I8 is illustrated as they would appear at the points of connection in letters such as T, E, P, etc. It will be noted that in these letters where a portion thereof extends at right angles to other portions, the outer grate members are connected together, while the inner grate member of the portion which extends at right angles is connected to the inner grate member of the main portion.

According to the modification shown in Figs. 7-10 inclusive, the construction of the illuminated sign is very similar to that described relative to Figs. 1-4 and differs merely in the construction of the bar for supporting the characters. The bar i5 is constructed from separate sections [5 which are adjustably connected to gether at their adjacent ends for permitting por-. tions of the bar to be extended greater distances: from the front face of the translucent pane of glass for changing the shadow effects created by the characters l6 and for spacing the back edge portions of these characters from the front face of the pane of glass. The outer ends of the bars l5 are securely attached to the brackets l4.

Each of the bar sections I5 is formed at one of its ends with an outwardly extended element 22 which is formed at its outer end with a ball 22 The other ends of these bar sections are formed with superimposed outwardly extending elements 23 which are formed with oppositely disposed outwardly extending depressions 23 which are adapted to engage around the ball I l for connecting the sections together. A bolt 24 passes through aligned openings formed in the outwardly extending members 23 for urging these members together to tightly clamp the ball 22 between the depressions 23 for holding the sections in fixed positions with relation to each other.

As clearly pointed out by Figs. 8 and 9 some of the sections 15* are shorter than others and permit the individual characters to be positioned at various spaced positions from the front face of the illuminated pane of glass H. The short members may also be used for supporting the narrow letters such as I. For supporting extremely wide letters such as M and W it may be necessary to connect two of the longer sections l5 together for supporting these letters.

The characters l6" are formed with bayonet slots and are adapted to be hung upon the section W forming the bars I5 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the previous form of the invention.

The operation of this form of the invention is as follows:

For changing the shadow effects produced by the sign characters l6" when illuminated during the day the shape of the bar l5 may be varied with relation to the front face of the pane of glass by adjusting some of the bar sections I5 by turning them at right angles to the remaining bar sections for increasing the space between the bar and the pane of glass. The characters I6" are positioned upon the bar I5 in a manner similar to that described in connection with Figs. 1-3. When properly positioned thereon the space between the different characters will be increased and decreased for increasing and decreasing the shadow effects produced by these characters.

In Figs. 11-16 inclusive various cross sections for sign characters are illustrated. These characters are illustrated by the reference numerals l6' and it will be noted that each of them has its front face closed and portions thereof extended or depressed for increasing the shadow effects on the face of the sign for adding to the decorativeness thereof. In Figs. 11, 14, 15 and 16 the front face is closed and is provided with slightly depressed areas l6 surrounded by extended areas Hi". When these characters are illuminated during the day, the extended portions It will form shadows upon the face of the depressed portions Hi.

In Figs. 12 and 13 the front face of the character is formed with extended portions l6 and when the characters are illuminated during the day, the extended portion It will form shadows on the remaining portion'of the characters.

According to the modifications of the invention, illustrated in Fig. 17, the rod I" is made circular in cross section and the sign may be placed on or removed from the said rod through a narrow bayonet slot l 1". In Fig. 18, the mouth of the bayonet slot is shown to be inclined upwardly so that the sign frame Ill may be slipped downwardly on the round rod l5". In Fig. 19, the mouth of the bayonet slot is shown to be inclined downwardly so that the sign frame In may be slipped upwardly on the rod l5".

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise constructions herein disclosed and the right is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A sign unit, comprising a frame, a translucent pane supported in said frame and adapted to be illuminated from the rear, brackets mounted on the sides of the frame, a bar extended between said brackets and having its ends mounted on said brackets and being spaced from the front of said pane, and a character having a bayonet slot formed in from its rear face for engagement on said bar to support the character spaced from said frame, said bar being substantially rectangular in shape with its widest portions arranged along the height and having its corners rounded, said bayonet slot comprising a wide mouth portion having a width greater than the height of said bar, said wide mouth portion continuing into a narrow inner portion having a width substantially equal to the Width of said bar so that said character may be positioned upon said bar by passing said bar through said wide mouth portions to align said bar with said narrow inner portion to permit said character to move downward thereon to engage the bar into said narrow inner portion to hold said character fixedly p0- sitioned on said bar with its back edge portion slightly spaced from the front face of said pane,

2. A sign unit, comprising a frame, a translucent pane supported in said frame and adapted to be illuminated from the rear, brackets mounted on the sides of the frame, a bar extended between said brackets and having its ends mounted on said brackets and being spaced from the front of said pane, and a character having a bayonet slot formed in from its rear face for engagement on said bar to support the character spaced from said frame, said character being formed from hollow material with its front and rear faces open to permit the light passing through said pane to also pass through the character to form a character having a double outline, grate members extending across the open front portion of said character for decreasing the space through which the light rays may pass for enhancing the appearance of said character, and means for holding said grate members in fixed positions between the adjacent edge portions of said front openings.

3. A sign unit, comprising a frame, a translucent pane supported in said frame and adapted to be illuminated from the rear, brackets mounted on the sides of the frame, a bar extended between said brackets and having its ends mounted on said brackets and being spaced from the front of said pane, and a character having a bayonet slot formed in from its rear face for engagement on said bar to support the character spaced from said frame, said character being formed from hollow material with its front and rear faces open to permit the light passing through said pane to also pass through the character to form a character having a double outline, grate members extending across the open front portion of said character for decreasing the space through which the light rays may pass for enhancing the appearance of said character, and means for holding said grate members in fixed positions between the adjacent edge portions of said front openings, said means comprising translucent members extended between the adjacent edge portions of said front opening, said grates having their bottom faces securely attached to the top face of said translucent members.

4. In a device of the class described, a sign character adapted to be supported in front of an illuminated pane of glass and having its front and rear faces open and through which the light from said illuminated pane of glass is adapted to pass, and means for decreasing the size of the front opening in said character to decrease the space through which said light may pass to enhance the appearance of said character, comprising grate members extendable along the length of said opening, and translucent support members extended between the sides of said opening and upon which said grate members are mounted. 

